Comelec to 4.3M voters with no biometrics data: Do it now

Comelec office. FILE PHOTO

With only four months to go for voters’ registration for the 2016 polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is stepping up efforts to inform voters to have their biometrics data taken.

“We’re sending letters to inform the people that they need to have their biometrics data taken in order to avoid being deactivated,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said.

Biometrics data refer to the automated identification of an individual, particularly his or her photograph, fingerprint and signature.

Some 4.3 million registered voters face disenfranchisement because they don’t have biometrics data, the poll body said.

READ: Comelec reiterates appeal to public to have biometrics taken

In addition, more than half a million registered voters have incomplete biometrics data and need to repeat the validation process.

Jimenez said the information campaign started last year but would be accelerated as the deadline for the registration period neared. The registration period for the 2016 national and local elections is until

Oct. 31.

Registered voters need not wait for the Comelec letters before having their biometrics taken.

“If they know that they have no biometrics or if they are just curious, they can absolutely go on their own without waiting for the letter from the Comelec,” he said.

Republic Act No. 10367, or the Mandatory Biometrics Registration Act of 2013, provides that voters who fail to submit for validation before the May 2016 elections, shall be deactivated from the voters’ list and shall not be allowed to vote.

Majority in Calabarzon

Based on the latest figures from the Comelec, a total of 4,326,655 voters are without biometrics.

The majority of them are in Calabarzon with 603,425, followed by Metro Manila with 455,699, Central Luzon with 417,793, Bicol region with 362,869, Central Visayas with 316,714, and Davao region with 312,265.

Another 550,341 registered voters have incomplete biometrics data.

“When that happens, the Comelec informs the registrant to return and submit for a re-capture of biometrics data,” Jimenez said.

The Zamboanga Peninsula has the biggest number of incomplete biometrics data with 190,421, followed by Northern Mindanao, 62,626; Metro Manila, 58,709; Calabarzon, 39,534; and Central Luzon, 30,030.

As of April, there were a total of 45,878,755 registered voters with complete biometrics data.